Tag Archives: Statue of Liberty

1. 800,000 federal employees will go without pay — and it’s unclear if they’ll receive back pay for time missed.

2. 3.6 million veterans may not receive benefits if the shutdown lasts over two weeks.

3. The Centers for Disease Control will have to stop its flu prevention program, just as flu season begins.

4. Food safety inspections will scale back their work, exposing millions to risk.

5. About nine million moms and pregnant women will no longer receive nutritional assistance from the Department of Agriculture’s Women, Infants, and Children program.

6. The Small Business Administration will be unable to process new loans, potentially slowing new small business growth.

7. National parks and museums will close across the country, damaging our travel and tourism industries by millions for each day the government remains shut down. (Yes, that means the Statue of Liberty is closed for business…)

8. Head Start programs across the country will start closing, ending educational and health benefits for low-income children.

9. Disability benefits could be interrupted, leaving vulnerable Americans without the support they rely on.

For more info, you can read the full article here:

http://my.barackobama.com/9-Facts-On-Government-Shutdown

Some House Republicans might be treating this showdown like a game — but its impacts are real for millions of Americans who are starting to feel the shutdown in their lives.

Help get the word out — forward this email, and share the impacts of a government shutdown with everyone who should know:

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

President’s vision for a more secure energy future

08/20/2012 Nativegrl77

Friday, August 16, 2012

Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About WindThe Department of Energy put together a list of the top ten things most people don’t know about wind energy. Check it out:
10. Human civilizations have harnessed wind power for thousands of years. Early forms of windmills used wind to crush grain or pump water. Now, modern wind turbines use the wind to create electricity. Learn how here.
9. A wind turbine has as many as 8,000 different components.
8. Wind turbines are big. A wind turbine blade can be up to 150 feet long, and a turbine tower can be over 250 feet tall, almost as tall as the Statue of Liberty.
7. Higher wind speeds mean more electricity, and wind turbines are getting taller to reach higher altitudes where it’s even windier. See the Energy Department’s website to find average wind speeds in your state or hometown.
6. Most of the components of wind turbines installed in the United States are manufactured here. Facilities for building wind turbine parts are located in more than 40 states, and the U.S. wind energy industry currently employs 75,000 people.
5. The technical resource potential of the winds above U.S. coastal waters is enough to provide over 4,000 gigawatts of electricity, or approximately four times the generating capacity of the current U.S. electric power system. Although not all of these resources will be developed, this represents a major opportunity to provide power to highly-populated coastal cities. See what the Energy Department is doing to develop offshore wind in the United States.
4. The United States generates more wind energy than any other country except China, and wind accounts for 35 percent of all newly installed U.S. electricity generation capacity over the last four years.
3. The United States’ wind power capacity reached 47,000 megawatts by the end of 2011 and has since grown to 50,000 megawatts. That’s enough electricity to power over 12 million homes annually — as many homes as in the entire state of California — and represents an 18-fold increase in capacity since 2000.
2. Wind energy is affordable. Wind prices for power contracts signed in 2011 are 50 percent lower than those signed in 2009, and levelized wind prices (the price the utility pays to buy power from a wind farm) are as low as 3 cents per kilowatt-hour in some areas of the country.
1. As much as 20 percent of our nation’s electricity could come from wind energy by 2030 but continued support for clean energy tax creditsis critical to achieving this target. That’s why President Obama is calling for an extension on the Production Tax Credit — to support wind producers in the U.S. and continue to help drive the wind industry’s growth.Get Updates

To learn more about the President’s vision for a more secure energy future and sign up to get updates, please visit: WhiteHouse.gov/energy.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

It’s an American Classic – Our Social Security System

08/15/2012 Nativegrl77

What’s an American classic? Something that stays fresh and wonderful generation after generation. Something that says, “This is America.” Like ice cream cones. The Statue of Liberty. Sunday drives. The March on Washington and “I have a dream.” I Love Lucy.And our Social Security system.

Social Security - It's An American Classic!

Celebrate Social Security’s birthday. Share this on:

On this date in 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. On its 77th birthday, we hail Social Security as an American classic! Why?

Social Security has brought Americans together across generations. Working together, we’ve built a system that provides income and security for workers and their families when they need it — when income is lost due to retirement, disability, or death.
For three-quarters of a century, through wars, recessions, natural disasters — and stock market crashes — Social Security has made every payment, on time and in full.
Social Security is the foundation of retirement security for most Americans — especially women. Without income from Social Security, half of women 65 and older would be poor.
Social Security is a family insurance plan that protects young workers, their spouses, and their children. More than 3.2 million children rely on Social Security.

And Social Security is still going strong! Even with no changes, it can pay 100 percent of promised benefits for the next 20 years, and 75 percent of promised benefits after that. Yes, there’s a long-term shortfall. But to put it in perspective: eliminating the entire 75-year shortfall costs about as much as extending the Bush-era tax cuts for the richest two percent.
Social Security will only turn 77 once! To celebrate this American classic you can:

Share the image on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Pinterest
Or, forward this email to your friends, family, and co-workers.

When he signed the Social Security Act, President Roosevelt said that this law “represents a cornerstone in a structure which is being built but is by no means complete.” Since 1935 Americans have expanded and improved this structure, providing benefits for widows and children, workers with disabilities, benefits for divorced spouses (initially, after a 20-year marriage, later reduced to 10 years), eliminating sex discrimination in the award of benefits, and providing automatic cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) that help protect the value of Social Security benefits from eroding over time.
We need your help to protect and strengthen Social Security! Later this year, Congress will make far-reaching budget decisions — and cuts to Social Security benefits, particularly by reducing annual cost-of-living adjustments, are reportedly on the table. After Congress returns, we’ll keep you posted and make it easy for you to take action to protect Social Security. In addition, the policy makers we choose in November will make important decisions about the future of our Social Security system. So be sure you’re registered to vote!
Sincerely,

Joan Entmacher Vice President, Family Economic Security National Women’s Law Center

P.S. Want to learn more about what Social Security means to women and families in your state? Check out our state-by-state fact sheets!

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Fwd: The winning shirt

12/21/2010 Nativegrl77

We’ve seen such an incredible response from the Repower America community that we can send you a Repower America T-shirt for a donation of $25 or more.

A Repower America T-shirt does more than demonstrate your support for clean energy — your donation helps strengthen our efforts to take on the challenges of 2011.

It’s now more important than ever that we win the fight for our environment, our economy and our planet’s future. And right now, we’re counting on supporters like you to keep leading the way.

Make a year-end donation of $25 or more to Repower America to get your free, limited-edition T-shirt.

I’ve included Vice President Gore‘s latest message below. Take a moment to have a look and see what you can do to make sure we stay strong in the weeks and months ahead.

Thanks for stepping up,

Maggie L. Fox
President and CEO
The Alliance for Climate Protection

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Al Gore
Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 at 1:37 PM
Subject: The winning shirt

Dear Friend,

With 2011 just a few weeks away, it’s time to send a clear and powerful message to climate deniers and polluters: Momentum is on our side, and we can’t be stopped.

The climate movement faced considerable setbacks in 2010. But even the worst polluters are starting to realize that when it comes to protecting our planet and building a new foundation for the U.S. economy, they are on the wrong side of history.

They can doubt us and delay us. But there’s nothing they can do to stop our clean energy future.

Last week, thousands of Repower America members voted to select 2011’s official T-shirt. Wearing this T-shirt is a way for everyone across the country to proclaim their belief that our clean energy future is undeniable.

Make a donation of $50 or more to Repower America and you’ll receive our limited edition “Statue of Liberty” T-shirt to help you show your support for clean energy.

Get your limited edition Repower America T-shirt

Everywhere you look, momentum towards a clean energy future is building.

The science of climate change is considered beyond dispute by all but a few scientists, governments and NGOs. More and more communities and local governments across the country are demanding renewable resources, and companies around the globe are adopting climate-friendly business models.

I wish I could tell you that the fossil fuel industry has seen the writing on the wall and is getting ready to change. But you and I know that when people are in denial they don’t let facts stand in their way.

Instead, I can tell you this: In the weeks and months ahead, it’s more important than ever for us to continue fighting for the clean energy future that our children and grandchildren deserve.

Donate $50 or more today to get your free, limited edition Repower America T-shirt.

The climate movement will never back down as long as supporters like you keep stepping up.

Thanks for all you do,